The central message of the Occupy Movement is that the vast differences in resources between the upper one percent and the remaining 99% of the population is unjust. It is unjust because people have unequal opportunity to access resources and to earn a livable income. This gap has been growing over the past thirty years in … Continue reading »
Occupy movement
Occupy 2012: Another 1968?
The 1968 presidential election was pivotal. It was also extremely close. Democratic Vice-President Hubert Humphrey lost to Republican candidate Richard Nixon by 0.7% of the popular vote; Humphrey lost several big states by less than 2 or 3%. That loss ended the most progressive eight-year period in American history since the New Deal — voting … Continue reading »
Occupy parenting, part 2
“I’m only 6. I can’t afford a lobbyist.“ ―sign held by a little girl at Occupy Oakland “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.“ ―Martin Luther King Jr. Although I wish, now, that I’d been more involved in the Children’s Brigade in Oakland, I confess that I don’t … Continue reading »
Occupy elections, with a simple message
What’s next? That’s the question being asked as cities close down Occupy encampments and winter approaches. The answer is simple. Just as the Tea Party gained power, the Occupy Movement can. The Occupy movement has raised awareness of a great many of America’s real issues and has organized supporters across the country. Next comes electoral … Continue reading »
More on Occupy
Last week’s post on the OWS Movement, “Occupy! Now What?,” got more than the usual attention – in part perhaps because it was re-posted on The Berkeley Blog just about the time that the police roughed up defenders of the tents at the campus occupation. The interest led me to re-check my notions about the … Continue reading »
Berkeley’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad response to #occupycal
Yesterday, a group of UC Berkeley students, working under the banner of “Occupy Cal”, sought to set up an encampment in the middle of UC Berkeley’s campus to highlight the connection between the banking industry, the global financial crisis, and the financial plight of our public universities. I didn’t participate in the protests (it’s not my … Continue reading »
The occupiers’ responsive chord
A combination of police crackdowns and bad weather are testing the young Occupy movement. But rumors of its demise are premature, to say the least. Although numbers are hard to come by, anecdotal evidence suggests the movement is growing. As importantly, the movement has already changed the public debate in America. Consider, for example, last … Continue reading »